Along with a sigh of relief, the newly installed meters brought with them skepticism among people. Commuters couldn’t help but wondered if the meters worked properly or if the auto driver was cheating them by taking unnecessary longer routes. Laying these doubts to rest, My Chennai City Commute (MCCC), a web-based app, aids the commuter with information regarding the accurate fair and the shortest route between two places.
“We waited for the meters to get installed and from the rates specified by the Government, we programmed fares that can now be seen in the app,” says L R Abhilash, IT employee and the brain behind this project. “While Google already has a system wherein you can get rates for buses and trains, the auto is new,” he says.
Like any other commuter, Abhilash realised that his sense of direction across the city was a wreck. Having worked in Hyderabad for a couple of years, he had almost forgotten the bus numbers and routes when he got back to Chennai earlier this year. “I thought I needed something to guide me along Chennai roads. Instead of complaining, I took the onus and started working on MCCC,” says the 23-year-old. Eventually, like-minded people were roped in and now, a team of five — Kumaran, Sharath, Ashok, Jyotirmoy Pan and Abhilash, work on updating this app. While three of them are from Chennai, Sharath is from Coimbatore and Jyotirmoy is from Kolkata.
The app’s home page asks the user to enter the source and destination. The next screen shows you the bus numbers, the fairs and alternate routes. “It has been integrated with Google maps,” says Abhilash. “Also, you can move the pointers on the maps and calculate the distance and rate of transport right from your door step!” he adds. The app gives you the bus rates and the auto charges. The complaint number at the end and a separate section for night charges makes you appreciate it a little more.
A unique function of the app is that there are tiny icons of white, green, blue, black and brown to indicate the ordinary, express, deluxe, night and air-conditioned buses respectively. These have the corresponding rates written beside them. “The app, however, shows the minimum rate which would be required by the commuter to travel that distance,” says Abhilash, also pointing out another added feature. Every distance, be it from the bus stop to your place or to the destination has been coded to calculate the amount of calories which you would lose. Isn’t it encouraging enough to walk a few metres knowing that you would lose four calories on an average?
For those who cannot access the Internet, there is also a SMS feature. “Though the SMS feature, which was brought in by Kumaran is existing for other other services, to my knowledge it is the first time someone has used it for the commute purpose,” he says. To avail the service, one can SMS 928219281, typing the query in the following format: @ MCCC
Right now, we are working on integrating the routes and rates of the newly introduced small buses into our app. “As of now only five buses have been integrated for a trial launch. The rest will be done in a week,” he says.
What’s saved for future? “We are exploring avenues on the Android and plan to come up with a smartphone app soon,” says Abhilash. “It will all be free of cost. We get things for free and we distribute it for free. It’s nothing serious!” he adds with a smile.
To access the app, log on to www.mccc.co.in or visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/mychennaicitycommute